


try & make it work

by ohnonnie



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: (but not really), Alternate Timelines, Drabble, F/F, Fluff, Insecurity, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-07 07:25:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15214106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohnonnie/pseuds/ohnonnie
Summary: Huh, who would’ve thought that all it took for Eleanor to want to be a good person was a spoilt rich girl with never-ending legs?





	try & make it work

**Author's Note:**

> written for the femslash language of flowers prompt 'delphinium', which symbolizes striving for success (which in this fic, for eleanor, is striving to not fuck up) and openness to new feelings.

It’s an unrelenting thought, a very persistent and very irritating Jiminy Cricket muttering in her ear, _You don’t deserve this._

It’s weird as hell, because Eleanor has lived her entire life getting the things she doesn’t deserve, stealing what she wanted for herself with no regard for anyone else (and, ugh, her remorseful thoughts sound suspiciously like Chidi). Now, though, she’s trying her goddamn best to _deserve_ what she’s been given, deserve paradise and infinite frozen yogurt and, yes, a absurdly hot British soulmate.

She went through life without putting any thought or effort into anything and now she’s actually trying, it’s as if her brain is punishing her.

Before she died, she would accept a lapful of Tahani giving her some sugar (even though Tahani has banned her from phrasing it like that), but now her traitorous brain, all full of stupid moral quandaries, won’t shut the hell up.

Even though, as far as she’s concerned, she _does_ deserve this; maybe not Tahani as her soulmate, sure, but being underneath her with her hands soft on the sides of her face and her lipstick probably all over her mouth, _that_ she deserves. They had a rough start, since Tahani obviously expected her soulmate to be more...well, not like Eleanor, crude and obnoxious. But Eleanor has been _good_ , has been patient and compromising and even maybe mature (though she thinks Chidi would disagree in that irritated tone of voice he has especially for her, “You only sat down to talk it through with her because I told you to, Eleanor! You wanted to flirt with Vicky to make her jealous, that’s not mature!” to which she would respond, “Ah, but I didn’t. And also I didn’t say ‘flirt’, I said-” and now she’s having a pretend conversation with Chidi, _Jesus Christ_ ). She brought her flowers and they ‘communicated’ (and by ‘communicated’ she means ‘she insincerely apologized and Tahani pouted so she semi-sincerely apologized which made Tahani smile and forgive her but not apologise back, which she let go because she kissed her on the cheek and her brain short circuited’) so they’re all good now and it’s been...nice. Weird, sure, but nice.

Eleanor doesn’t think she’s actually dated someone properly before, only ever had casual relationships (or, at least, any serious relationships she’s had were definitely casual on her part) but she supposes her soulmate is a good of place to start than any. ‘Courting’ seems more accurate, if she’s honest, but she doesn’t mind it. Usually she’d have gotten bored by now but Tahani is charming, if in an oddly infuriating way. She.... _likes_ her.

Weird, but nice.

“You’re thinking too much,” Tahani says, pulling back, a bit breathless and with an adorable frown on her face.

“Never been accused of that before.”

“Eleanor,” she says, no, _chides_ and shit, she sounds serious. “You do… want this, don’t you? Want me?” And, what the hell, she looks unsure and vulnerable, all puppy dog eyes and genuine insecurity and Eleanor doesn’t know how to deal with her own insecurities, let alone other people’s. Tahani pushes on before she can respond, “Just because we’re soulmates doesn’t mean we have to- I mean, surely there are platonic soulmates, maybe-”

“Maybe,” Eleanor cuts through, “But, babe, the way I feel about you is far from platonic.”

And she pulls her back in, shows her just how unplatonic her feelings are.

When they eventually break apart, Tahani ducks her head and smiles, flustered and bashful, and Eleanor wants to keep her like this. She’s an asshole, but she’s going to try her damn best to make sure Tahani has no reason to go cold and aloof on her again, not when she can have her like this, earnest and beaming and far from the untouchable goddess she had first met.

And she’s going to try her damn best to deserve it, too.

Huh, who would’ve thought that all it took for Eleanor to want to be a good person was a spoilt rich girl with never-ending legs?

“I like you too,” Tahani says, almost shy.

“Huh?” Eleanor replies, struck a little dumb, and Tahani thankfully understands it as a reaction of dazed, slightly aroused confusion instead of rejection.

“Before,” she says, voice heavy with bemusement and affection, her thumb brushing over her bottom lip where Eleanor assumes her pink lipstick has smudged, “you said your feelings weren’t platonic and I… mine aren’t either.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate your honesty but, uh,” Eleanor says, trails off with a gesture towards their entangled bodies and disheveled clothes, “duh?”

Tahani grins and rolls her eyes; Tahani has a slightly (or maybe not-so-slight) condescending air to her, something that rubbed Eleanor the wrong way when they’d met, and it’s not gone now, but there’s a fondness there, in the way Tahani looks at her and speaks to her, that softens it into something endearing, like a exasperated wife. “You have such a way with words, darling.”

“What can I say,” Eleanor drawls, shit-eating grin cutting through whatever gross mushy expression was on her face before, “I’m good with my mouth.”

Hey, her goal is to be a good person, not a _classy_ one. Besides, her obnoxiousness is part of her charm. And, if the hint of a amused smile at Tahani’s lips is anything to go by, even paired with an irritated groan, Tahani agrees.


End file.
